"Lions" against three rivals - Poland, fans and fatigue

From the special reporter "Vijesti"

Hotel "Novotel" in Kraków was packed with press teams yesterday, because the handball national teams of Montenegro, Poland and Slovenia held briefings in a short space of time. And the "star" of the day was the guy who connects the selections whose mutual duel will close the penultimate competition day in the "Tauron Arena" - Branko Vujović.

As a 17-year-old, he arrived in Kjelce from Sutjeska in 2015 and, with the two seasons he spent on loan in Celje, was a member of the best Polish club until last summer.

Therefore, it is not surprising that he was "targeted" by a small Montenegrin journalistic team and a much larger Polish one, in whose language he patiently answered thirty questions.

Both Montenegro and one of the hosts started the World Cup with dreams of the quarter-finals, but in the competition of France and Spain, and even Slovenia, that was not realistic.

The Poles were left without the opportunity to get the 3rd place in Group I, the "lions" still have a theoretical chance to reach the top eight, but it is clear that placing among the 12 in the world would be a spectacular result.

And in order to get closer to that, tonight (20.30:XNUMX p.m.) they have to overcome the chosen ones Patrick Rombel and about 7.000 local fans.

Considering that 10th, maybe even 11th from this championship could secure the qualification tournament for the Olympic Games, it is clear how much is at stake for Zoran Roganović's team tonight and on Sunday against Slovenia.

"We will try to finish the work on the qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games now, if we already have a chance. Again, we are playing against very good teams, it will certainly not be easy. We will not give up, we will play every match to the maximum and, I hope, get some positive result out of it", said the 24-year-old from Nikšić.

In five seasons in Poland, he got to know all Rombel's players well and knows where they are "thin".

"There are a lot of holes, especially in defense. They have a problem with the right side, because Glossy Ibis i Dashek they play wing and full back, left backs and pivots can use that. Zoran will certainly analyze each of their matches and prepare the match in the best possible way".

About 10 years ago, Poland had a great team, winning medals, but now it is far from that level.

"They made a change of generations when they Bjelecki, Jurecki, Lijevski, Shmal and the others left the national team. They started to build a system, they started teaching young players from scratch, adapting them to the system, in order to make a big result. That process is long, they tried to do something in this championship as hosts, because they have a quality team, with very good players, but they didn't succeed. Maybe it's because of the pressure and too much desire, but they showed against Spain that they can play with everyone. Maybe they woke up a little late, but we will do our best to beat them," said Vujović.

Two nights ago, Montenegro lost to France 35:24, and the great right back believes that the scenario from the European Championship is repeating itself, that fatigue is the deciding factor.

"We made an effort, we tried, we played well at the beginning, but I think the scenario from the European Championship is repeating itself. We played well in the group then as well, but fatigue started to get to us, we started to miss open shots and rebounds. We will try to play these two games as best as we can, we will see how it will look like".

In the duel with the "experts" there was no solution for Vincent Gerard, who easily defended the zicers as well.

"It's all closely related. When shooting, especially open shots, concentration plays the biggest role. When you are tired, there is an immediate lack of concentration. That had an impact, but it was also Gerar's merits. I am not diminishing his quality at all, he has been in the best clubs for many years and is the first goalkeeper of France. "He had 45 percent of defenses, and that is too much if we want the result," Vujović pointed out.

Although the quarterfinals are practically elusive, The Roganovics the chosen ones do not think to relax.

"It's a challenge to play against teams like France, Poland and Slovenia, whether they're friendlies or World Cup games. We should do our best and show our best face. The main goal was to pass the group, it was ungrateful to say that we will go to the quarterfinals next to all these teams".

The defense does not work very well in this championship, and the midfield was especially vulnerable against France, which scored almost all goals from the back and pivot positions.

"We tried to have the halves go out on the backs, in order to prevent the two-on-two game, because throughout the championship they used the cooperation with the pivot that way. This opened up a lot of space for their defenders, who play exceptionally one-on-one, are strong physically. Against such a team you have to take some risks, you can't close everything. It also happened that they pushed us into five or six meters, but they have been doing that for years. We could have done better, but it is not easy to play against such players", Vujović concluded.

Reporting made possible by Lob